About
Ezgi Sahinoglu is an artist and object maker born in Istanbul, Turkey.
She completed her undergraduate degree in Fine Art Photography at Glasgow School of Art (GSA) in 2020. During her studies at GSA she developed an interest in working with metal and making objects, which led to her practice today as a maker studying for an MA in Jewellery & Metal at the Royal College of Art.
After working with wax carving technique, during the first year of her MA, Ezgi discovered her interest in stone carving, which then she learned from Charlotte De Syllas.
She is now working mostly with gemstones and continues her practice as a stone carver and object maker in London.
Ezgi’s body of work is inspired by the subject of memory, and its fragility.
Gemstones are at the core of her work as an object maker. She uses gemstones to bring a poetic approach to her subject matter. She sees them as representative of ‘time held in the object’. In her latest work, she combines object making and photography by using the crystals as her negatives. Before carving them into objects, she creates prints of the crystals in the darkroom.
Artist Statement
My interest in memory started with the realisation of the gaps in my childhood memories, which made me question how reliable or, to be exact, how unreliable my memory is. After discovering crystals’ ability to store information I started practising journalling through crystals. This ritual allowed me to reconnect with my memories and transform them into a different form.
As a stone carver, I am fascinated by the connection between crystals and memory. I am drawn to these unique and powerful objects not only for their aesthetic qualities but also for their ability to store information. Working with stone is a deliberate choice that reflects the enduring nature of memories. Each piece of stone I select has its own unique history, formed over millennia through the geological processes of the Earth. Just as memories evolve and transform over time, so do the stones.
My work is inspired by the fragility and unreliability of memory, and the ways in which we seek to preserve and protect our experiences. Through my work I aim to capture the essence of memory as a fluid and ever-changing entity, while also honouring its ability to endure and persist over time. In my creations, I use gemstones and other crystals to represent the concept of time held within an object.
Ultimately, my art serves as a vessel for preserving the intangible aspects of memory. It is an exploration of the interplay between the solidity of stone and the ethereal nature of our recollections. In my creative process I aim to capture the essence of memory and translate it into tangible form.